Something In Common
by SoundEffectsAndOverdramatics-x
Summary: In which Regina gets drunk after Henry's trick, and Ruby comforts her...which leads to a little more. Fluff-ish. Don't own Once Upon A Time. Red Queen (Regina x Ruby). I'm sorry, I just ship these two so hard! ONESHOT.


**In which, Regina gets drunk and Ruby comforts her. Red Queen (Regina x Ruby) I ship these two so hard and I'm not even sorry. xD Don't own OUAT. Set after 2x03. R&R!**

* * *

She ignored the stares and the whispers and chugged down her third shot of tequila. She can hear the hateful whispers and angry shouts, but she ignores it all, ordering another shot. She's lucky she's got a bartender in front of her who doesn't seem to care that she's the Evil Queen, or that she's the reason for 'The Curse'. She's just enjoying the massive tips Regina keeps handing her.

"You know, you've given me over a hundred bucks now." The bartender said, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Keep giving me my shots, and I'll double it." Regina said, smiling up at her lazily. The bartender sighed, but shrugged.

"Alright."

The tequila is the only thing stopping her from turning every single one of the people glaring at her right now into bugs and squishing them with her right foot. She tolerated it before...in the Diner...when she thought Henry was going to meet up with her...

Those blissful twenty minutes when she thought her son had finally forgiven her...when she thought her son was finally willing to try and love her once more...

Yeah, she'd tolerated the stares then. The angry shouts. The almost violent encounter (luckily, Ruby had stepped in and rushed her into the kitchen before any punches were thrown). She'd gone through all of it, because she knew Henry would be waiting for her at the end of the road.

But nope. It was just a trick. A ruse. A way for him to get rid of her so he could steal her keys and sneak into her chamber. Then she'd spent twenty more minutes pacing up and down in the kitchens of Granny's Diner, her heart racing and worry wracking her mind until she'd finally gotten the call that Henry was fine from David.

Then, realization began to sink in. And she ended up here.

Regina sculled her fourth shot and ordered another.

"You know what? Here." The bartender grabbed the tequila bottle and slammed it in front of Regina.

"Oh, much better!" Regina grinned.

"Just, try not to over-do it, alright? Don't want you to die from over-consumption of alcohol."

"I'd rather die from that then from what the entire town wants to do to me." Regina thought she saw a spark of pity in the bartender's eyes, but she walked away before Regina can confirm it. She poured herself another drink, taking a deep breath in as the world span around her.

How could Henry do this to her? Lift her hopes up, then bring them down, like blowing up a balloon, then popping it straight afterward?

Something wet fell on her cheek and she didn't realize it was her tears until her eyes blurred up and another tear fell.

She heard a chair scrape beside her, then saw long, elegant fingers drumming the counter in her periphery, red nail polish glimmering in the light.

"I'll have what she's having." Regina ignored the shot cup and drank straight from the bottle. What the hell is _she _doing here?

"Don't you think you've had enough, Madam Mayor?" Ruby whispered, pouring herself a shot of tequila.

"It's Regina now, dear." Regina sighed and drank straight from the bottle again.

"David told me what Henry did..." Regina looked over at the young brunette and saw she was smiling sadly.

"He's okay. That's good, right?"

"Of course it is. There were numerous...things that could've hurt him."

"I gathered that from the fact that you were pacing like crazy and whispering under your breath about all the potential things that could kill him." Ruby said, sitting up in her seat. Regina said nothing.

"I'm sorry for HOW he did it. He shouldn't of tricked you like that. Not when...not when you're trying to change." Ruby said, drinking a second shot. Regina looked at her in surprise.

"So suddenly, you're feeling sorry for me?" She said, raising an eyebrow. Ruby chuckled under her breath.

"Let's just say I know what it's like...to have this monster inside that you're trying to tame. And you're doing it, not only or the person you love, but for yourself. And sometimes it gets tough...and it seems like everyone is hellbent on exposing the monster when all you want is for the monster to go away."

Regina looked at her thoughtfully and saw Ruby's eyes were sparkling with tears. She took a deep breath in and chuckled, wiping her eyes.

"That being said, as good as it sounds, tequila does not help tame the monster." She said, gripping the tequila bottle and moving it out of reach from Regina. Regina groaned in protest and reached for it, but Ruby's hands caught hers lightly.

"Time to go home, right Madam Mayor?" Ruby said, grinning widely as she slung Regina's arm over her neck and slipped her other arm around Regina's waist.

"It's Regina." She slurred. Ruby shook her head and walked forward, supporting the older woman. Before they could make it to the entrance, a group of people blocked it, all of them glaring at Regina with hatred.

"Oh look! My groupie's arrived!" Regina shouted, grinning widely. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Move out of the way, guys. I have to get her home."

"I don't think so. We've got a bone to pick with the ex-mayor. You get outta here, Ruby." Ruby's eyes met Roger, who stepped forward, his huge arms crossed over each other as he glared with hatred at Regina.

"Good for you. Now move out of my way." Ruby dragged Regina forward, but Roger blocked her way.

"Stop with the goody-two-shoes act, Ruby. There's no Charming, no Snow to stop you from tearing her limb from limb, just like you want to." Ruby glared at him and wrapped her arm tightly around Regina's waist.

"Thanks to this woman, I haven't hurt a single person in twenty-eight years. We may have forgotten who we are, but for some of us, it was a blessing rather than a curse. Now get out of my way, Roger, or I will make you get out of my way." Regina looked up at Ruby in shock to see that there wasn't a hint of humor in the young woman's eyes: only anger at the man before her.

"If I have to go through you, I will." Roger gripped Regina's arm tightly-

And Ruby kicked her foot out, kicking him square in the stomach with her heels. He keeled over and kneed him in the face. Roger smacked into a table and sprawled on the floor.

"NOBODY TOUCHES REGINA, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" Ruby roared, so the entire bar could hear her. Her arm was wrapped so tightly around Regina now, Regina could feel Ruby's nails digging into her hip.

"You bitch!" Roger spat, touching his bruised jaw. Ruby laughed loudly.

"Yeah, I'd say that's about correct." The crowd dispersed as she dragged Regina out of the bar. Regina groaned as the cold air hit her like a slap to the face.

"Well, there's a side to you I've never seen." Regina grumbled. Ruby grinned at her.

"Yeah, well...he annoyed me."

"I'd hate to see what you'd do if someone pissed you off." Ruby helped Regina into the passenger seat and walked over to the driver's seat, heading toward the Mayor's mansion as she went.

"Why are you helping me?" Regina asked her. Ruby sighed.

"Because...you're a broken person, Regina. And don't deny it. And Snow told me why you cast the curse in the first place...you lost your true love." Regina's heart dropped and she gazed at Ruby blankly.

"She's not good at keeping secrets, is she?" Regina said angrily. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"I kind of forced it out of her. That's not the point. The point is that I know what you're going through." Regina raised an eyebrow.

"You do?" Ruby looked at her sadly, tears in her eyes. She cleared her throat.

"I...I killed...my true love." Regina looked at her in complete and total shock.

"You what?" She whispered.

"I didn't have control of myself...I was with Snow, and we thought that HE was the wolf. We...I, chained him to a tree. My hood stops me from transforming, and...I didn't have it with me. I turned and...I killed him." She whispered. Regina stayed silent. Ruby was crying silently, somehow still managing to drive. Regina reached over and touched her knee.

"Pull over." She whispered softly. Ruby did so, letting go of the wheel and smacking her forehead against the steering wheel, finally letting her sobs take hold of her.

"Get out of the car." Regina said calmly. Ruby looked at her in shock.

"W-What?"

"Get out." Regina opened her door and got out, stumbling around the hood of the car as Ruby got out slowly, confused. She'd barely shut the door behind her when Regina enveloped her in a hug, wrapping her arms around her tightly.

"I am so sorry." Regina slurred. Ruby chuckled and sniffed, patting her back gently.

"Thanks, Regina, but the only reason I'm telling you this is 'cause I know you won't remember it tomorrow morning."

"No, Ruby, seriously. That is...it's so horrible. And you had no control, and...I am so sorry." Regina whispered. Ruby sighed and buried her head in Regina's shoulder.

"Thanks." Regina let her go and looked up at her house, drawing her jacket around her body as a cold breeze swept over them.

"The house is so much emptier without Henry." Regina said, sighing. Ruby touched her shoulder.

"He'll come around. You're trying, Regina. I can see that you're trying. Just...don't give up, okay? He does love you. And I know you love him." Regina turned around and smiled at her.

"Thank you." She stumbled through the gate and Ruby followed behind her just in case she fell. Regina reached the door and turned around to look at Ruby.

"Do you really think Henry will come around?" She whispered.

Maybe it was the two shots of tequila finally getting to her, or the idea that just popped into her head, but Ruby felt heat rush to her cheeks as she blushed, gazing down at the floor.

She shook her head, grinning widely and Regina looked at her in confusion.

"What are you-"

Ruby stepped forward and brushed her lips against Regina's lightly, her hand wrapping around Regina's neck. Regina's eyes widened in surprise and shock and before she could react, Ruby pulled away, knocking her forehead against Regina's gently.

"He's a really big idiot if he doesn't." She whispered. Before Regina could say anything, Ruby walked away, heading back to her car and driving off. Regina stayed on her doorstep for over ten minutes, completely confused over what had just happened before she finally picked her drunk-self up and walked into her home, a small smile curling on her face despite herself.

* * *

She always hated the sun.

It was such an incessant, burning little sphere. She wished she could use magic to cast it out of the sky and send it away from her, because it was not helping her headache AT ALL.

She pushed her sunglasses deeper into her face and stumbled into the Diner, sitting at the first stool she could find.

Ruby saw Regina enter from the kitchen and her heart started racing. She took a deep breath, then nodded to herself and grabbed the coffee pot, walking out to the counter.

"Regina."

"Ruby! Coffee, for the love of god, coffee, please!" Ruby laughed under her breath and poured a cup for her, her little ray of hope deflating. So Regina didn't remember...that was fine. As long as she was alright and no one had attacked her...

"Here, on the house." Ruby said, pushing a plate of eggs and pancakes toward her. Regina clutched her head and looked down at the food, then up at Ruby.

"On the house? Whatever for?"

"You have a hangover." Ruby said, laughing. Regina sighed.

"Right...Thanks." Regina grabbed the bottle of syrup on the counter and poured it over everything. Ruby's eyes went wide.

"You...you do that, too, huh?"

"What?" Regina asked, scoffing down eggs. Ruby chuckled under her breath.

"Put syrup...on everything. Even the eggs." Regina nodded.

"Best thing ever. Most people think it's weird, but..." Ruby shook her head in disbelief, then walked away. Regina watched Ruby walk away with a massive grin on her face.

"Thanks for last night, Ruby." She whispered.


End file.
